Gini Coefficient UK 2026: What It Is and the Latest Figures

The Gini coefficient is the single most common summary measure of inequality. It is derived from the Lorenz curve, which plots the cumulative share of income against the cumulative share of the population. The coefficient is the gap between that curve and the line of perfect equality, scaled from 0 (everyone has an identical income) to 1, or 100% (one person has everything). The figures in the table above are for income; the contrasting wealth figure is covered in the companion guide on wealth inequality in the UK.

For income the headline UK figure is the ONS disposable income Gini, which was 32.9% in the financial year ending 2024 and has been broadly stable over the past decade. The number is sensitive to what counts as income: before taxes and benefits the original income Gini was 47.6%, showing how much the tax and benefit system narrows the gap. The Households Below Average Income series, drawn from a different survey, separates income measured before housing costs (35%) from income measured after housing costs (39%), because housing costs take a larger share of lower incomes.

The Gini coefficient is a single number, so it has limits. It does not show where in the distribution the inequality sits, two very different distributions can share the same Gini, and it can be relatively insensitive to changes at the very top of the income range. It also says nothing about wealth, which is distributed far more unequally: the ONS wealth Gini was 0.59. For the policy debate behind these numbers, see why the UK won't tax wealth, the case made by Gary Stevenson for a wealth tax, the data on the top 1 percent's share of wealth, and one proposed response in universal basic income in the UK.